Search This Blog

Promo Stop: Spin The Plate (With Excerpt & Author Interview)

Today we welcome Donna Anastasi to the blog.
She was kind enough to share an excerpt of her book, Spin The Plate, as well as answer a few of our burning questions.
So let's get on with it and first take a look at the book.

Jo as a child suffered 128 episodes of abuse at the hands of her father. Now, a woman, she is powerful, enraged, unable to forget.

Settling back into her seat, Jo glanced
across the aisle and for the first time noticed a wiry man who looked
youthful but not young sitting across from her. He had dark hazel
eyes, olive skin, and curly hair the color of rich soil. The ridges
of his sandy-toned corduroy pants were worn. His retro-Nike sneakers
were white, scuffed leather with a green swish. Around his neck was a
hemp string knotted every three inches with a three-inch simple
wooden cross at the end. She pegged him for a graduate student
because along with the Freegan appearance, he also had a copy of that
day's Wall Street Journal. He probably attended Boston
University or Brandeis.

With an amused look, the man searched
her face. He seemed to see right through the façade, as if she wore
a broad smile and he shared in the joke.

She glared at him. “What the @#$%^
is wrong with you?”

His gaze and the hint of a smile
remained steady.

“Jesus loves you, you know,” he
blurted.

She stared at him a little less
fiercely, shaking her head slowly. She hoped he would dare to
challenge her. She waited for him to question her faith, character,
or morals or otherwise provoke her. She felt the blood rush to her
extremities as she prepared to unleash a string of profanities that
would knock the grin from his face and shock him to the core. His
smile grew. He looked upward absently as if lost in a pleasant
memory. Apparently he had nothing more to say.

The train groaned and settled to a
halt. “Arlington” came over the loudspeaker. This was her stop.

Jesus freak, Jo thought as she
exited the train.

Author Bio:

Donna Anastasi is the author of two non-fiction small animal books published by Bowtie press: The Complete Guide to Gerbil Care (2005) a popular how to breed, raise, and care for gerbils book and The Complete Guide to Chinchilla Care (2008) a chinchilla handbook promoting these exotic and intelligent creatures as companions, not coats. Spin the Plate is Anastasi's debut novel. The 2013 printing of Spin the Plate is a completely revised and expanded version of her 2010 indie-award winning novel: Living Now Book Awards (Gold Medal), Reader’s Favorite Awards (Silver Medal, Contemporary Romance), International Book Awards (Finalist, Women’s Literature), Best Book Awards (Finalist, Cross-Genre Fiction).

Donna Anastasi lives in the woods of Southern New, Hampshire with her husband, two teen-aged daughters and an ever-changing menagerie.

AND NOW A FEW WORDS WITH DONNA....

Do
you write full time? If so, tell us how you manage it. If not, what
is your day job?

No, I don’t write full time. I’m an
interaction designer. I make on-line applications easy to use and
improve the user experience. Design is a very interactive process
requiring a lot of feedback and revision, plus a thick skin. The
focus has to be on improving the end-product and making it right for
your audience. These skills help in writing as well.

What
is your writing process like--do you outline first or just start
writing, etc.?

The book was originally a short story that came
to me all at once. I wrote it down in about two week. Then I thought,
“these characters are such interesting people, why not tell the
whole story.” Writing fiction is extremely difficult. So, I had
many authors, editors, and avid-readers help me to expand it to a
full-length novel, which took four years.

Do
you work with a writing group or mentor? Why or why not?If
you do, what do you get out of it?

My husband has had four books
published and has won several playwriting awards – he helped me
with the dialogue – plus several friends and relatives helped by
writing down their stories which I wrote the characters into. This
style of writing which I term “mosaic” results in a very
realistic portrayal of events because of the details know only to
those with first-hand experience.

What
have you done to develop your writing craft?

Write and rewrite.
And then rewrite again. I seek out feedback from a wide variety of
people and truly see and treat honest reviews and all feedback as a
gift.

What
was the hardest part: writing the book, getting it published, or
marketing it? Why?

Marketing,
because that is the area where the author has the least control.
There are so many good books in the Contemporary Fiction, Christian,
and Romance categories – readers have many choices, and getting the
word out has been tough, but that’s why I’m doing things like
this.

Tell
us about your book.

This
book is not your usual bodice-ripper romance where an unnaturally
gorgeous heroine meets a buff, alpha-male for hot nasty sex.

Not
even close.

Jo is a survivor of a bleak and abusive childhood.
She channels her pain and rage into weight training and roams the
city streets at night as a powerful vigilante. While she is more than
capable of defending herself against physical danger, she is
defenseless against the memories of the past that torment
her.

Francis is a mysterious man she meets on the subway
train. He doesn’t have a regular job and is still living at home.
But he is gentle, likeable, friendly, intelligent, sensitive,
respectful, generous, patient, and understanding. Just what a brave,
but damaged soul like Jo needs.

In this story, the average-guy
hero battles to win the battered heart of the wary, edgy,
less-than-perfect heroine.

“Spin the Plate is a fast-paced,
edgy, darkly comic tale of resilience, romance, and redemption that
breaks over you in waves. All you can do is gasp, stay afloat, and
enjoy the ride.”-- Holly Robinson, author of The Wishing Hill
and Sleeping Tigers

Where
can we find out more about you and buy your book?

The novel is free
from Smashwords
and iTunes. It is a 99 cent kindle and available in paperback from
Amazon
and Barnes
and Noble. Make sure to get the January 2013 (full length novel)
version titled “Spin the Plate: A novel.

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

AVAILABLE NOW ON DIGITAL!AVAILABLE OCTOBER 23 ON BLURAY/DVD!Rated PG1 h 54 minsAMAZON US | AMAZON CA Join the celebration, sing and dance, and discover how it all began! Ten years after Mamma Mia! The Movie premiered, you’re invited back to the magical Greek island of Kalokairi in an all-new musical sequel based on the songs of ABBA. Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is now pregnant, and like her mother Donna (Meryl Streep), she’ll need to take risks. The film’s original cast returns, with new additions including Lily James as a young Donna, Andy Garcia and Oscar® winner Cher.

No one has ever guessed Emily’s secret.Will you? A happy marriage. A beautiful family. A lovely home. So what makes Emily Coleman get up one morning and walk right out of her life—to start again as someone new? Now, Emily has become Cat, working at a hip advertising agency in London and living on the edge with her inseparable new friend, Angel. Cat’s buried any trace of her old self so well, no one knows how to find her. But she can't bury the past—or her own memories. And soon, she’ll have to face the truth of what she's done—a shocking revelation that may push her one step too far. .

Tina Seskis grew up in Hampshire, England, and after graduating from the University of Bath spent over 20 years working in marketing and advertising. She is the author of two novels, One Step Too Far and When We Were Friends (previously called A Serpenti…

The brain is one of the most complex
biological structures that scientists and doctors have ever encountered. It is
like a machine that runs non-stop that has the computing power to be able to
make very complex decisions and experience unexplainable phenomena like
emotions. The brain controls every other organ in the body so it is arguably
the most important one. Unfortunately, probably due to its brilliance, it is a
fairly vulnerable structure that can and does degrade over time. Many experts agree that one of the best ways
to maintain the health of the brain is to keep it active, just as you would
with your muscles to keep them strong. There are also a number of nutrients
that are very important to maintaining a healthy brain and preventing its
decline. Reviewy
is a website that contains information on a number of different supplements
that can be used to boost brain power and protect it from degradation. Check
out the site for more information on nutrients that help to safeguard th…